


Wild Child

by Layla_Fae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, Slow Romance, age gap, married! Junmyeon, rebel! Sehun, teacher! Junmyeon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 01:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14009325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layla_Fae/pseuds/Layla_Fae
Summary: Junmyeon always considered love to be a luxury never meant for him, even in his own marriage. But convenience was something he was lucky enough to have, especially when it came to the blonde boy that walked into his life one day and saved him.





	Wild Child

Junmyeon was in his last semester of college when his mother fallen ill. It wasn’t hard to believe so, given her age and prior health conditions, but he thought it was mainly because of the fact that his older brother had run off with a girl that was already married. The scandal hit the town hard and his mother was left to get the backslash. 

It was Junmyeon who was left to take care of her in her last year of life. He met his wife in the process, who was the stay at home nurse they hired for his mother. His mother loved the girl. She praised her for being so sweet and smart, smart enough to get a job that could financially support her for the rest of her life. His mother never approved of his choice to go down the education path, saying he was too smart for that and should be a doctor or lawyer instead. Junmyeon knew with his refusal he would never hear the end of it.

Despite it all, Junmyeon felt bad for his mother, who was widowed early on in life and now known as the mother of an affair man. He felt great pity for her and considered her as his last family member, not wanting her to go. So, when the old woman said she wanted to see Junmyeon married to a good prosper woman, like the nurse, he jumped on it. 

They were married a few weeks before his mother finally pasted, and it left Junmyeon alone in the world forever. He would be lying saying he would never expect himself in this position: alone and not in love in a marriage with a woman who felt the same towards him. Love was something Junmyeon was never meant to have. Because it wasn’t love, it was convenience, which is one of the few luxuries he was allowed in this world.

That was five years ago, and everything settled on from there. His wife moved into his own home and they lived comfortably and quietly. They rarely spoke to each other and when they did, it was vague and shallow. 

It’s in the tail end of summer when his wife informs him about her older sister’s son, who she describes as a “wild child” with a raised brow and a click of the tongue, a common expression for her when she explains something or someone she found foul. She asked him if the wild child could stay with them here, acting as her sister’s last attempt to fix him before shipping him off to boarding school or something. Junmyeon agrees to the deal, but when he asked his wife what wrong with the kid, she simply states that he is damaged, and won’t tell him any more than that.

It was Junmyeon who picked the boy up from the train station that day. His wife was at work and couldn’t make it, which seemed like a fake excuse but whatever. 

The train comes soon enough and there is only a small number of passengers. Most of them are older, and Junmyeon continues to look for the young so-called “wild child”. Soon enough, the boy is the last one off, helping an elderly woman with her purse and he thinks it’s the first time he has seen the sun in such a long time. 

The boy comes up to him shyly, with only a small duffel bag beside him. His head his slightly aimed towards the ground but Junmyeon still likes the sight in front of him. He was blonde, his hair almost shining white under the shade of the train station ceiling. He had a sharp jawline and sharp eyes that didn’t cut him when he looked into them, where he found light brown irises that reminded him of coffee with cream. They were warm and soft, and Junmyeon wanted to taste them somehow.

“Are you Sehun?” He asked carefully, still partially in shock.

“Yeah.” The teenager stuck out his hand towards him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same here.” Junmyeon takes his hand and shakes, letting a smile come over his face. “I’m Junmyeon. Your uncle, I guess.”

Time passes and Junmyeon feels as if he is somewhat happy again. He feels young when he’s with Sehun who makes him laugh uncontrollably with is stories and jokes, even when he teases Junmyeon over his corny dad jokes. They go for walks through town sometimes too, and Junmyeon had come to long for the feeling of Sehun’s fingers around his arm, holding it gently and leaning into him slightly. They become friends, despite the large age gap. 

Junmyeon still asks his wife about why Sehun was sent to them in the first place. He didn’t understand how this sweet boy was considered a wild child since he seemed to be so mature and had better manners than most kids his age. She never answers him, and they leave it there. They don’t speak much beyond that. 

Sehun moves in with ease. He takes the spare room and comes out sometimes, but only when he needs food or when he knows his aunt isn’t home. He mainly comes out for Junmyeon who usually stays in the living room. When he sees Sehun peeking around the corner, Junmyeon would invite him to sit on the couch and watch TV with him. Sehun always took his offer and they end up laughing till his wife came home. Sehun would usually quiet down then, which wasn’t hard to figure out why. Junmyeon knew the boy felt more welcome with him than his blood-related aunt. It was odd, but it was how it was. 

School starts and Junmyeon is back to work with Sehun, who he drives to and from school every day. He can tell through simple observation that Sehun slowly becomes a part of a small group of friends and sees that most of the girls have taken a liking towards the boy, finding his blonde hair exotic and different, especially since it was nature. Junmyeon snickered silently at them. He was the only one who knew that Sehun bleached his hair before moving to live with him and his wife, as an act of rebellion towards his parents. That was the only real wild thing that Sehun has ever done, in Junmyeon’s opinion.

Winter comes soon enough, and the winter dance comes around. Since the conservative school refuses to have any type of homecoming or prom, this was the closest the students got to the so-called “best night of their lives”. Junmyeon was not chosen to chaperone this year, so he simply stayed behind at home, waiting for Sehun to call to pick him up. He gets tired of waiting soon enough and puts on his winter coat before walking onward towards the school. It's bitterly cold outside but it’s a short walk and Junmyeon doesn’t mind. 

He comes upon the school as the last mass of students is being pushed out of the gym. Leading the way is Sehun and his friend Jongin, who are leaving off one another and laughing. Sehun has taken off his tie and coat, tossing them over his shoulder and walking out in stride, which leaves him in only khakis and a baby blue button up. He sports it well. Junmyeon keeps that to himself. 

A large number of girls follow the two boys as they walk towards Jongin’s car, where they depart. Junmyeon can hear and see Jongin offering Sehun a ride home and stops where he is, feeling that he might be ditched soon. He notices that it started snowing and knows it plans to do so for the rest of the night. He watches from afar as Sehun shuffles uncomfortably under the question looking around while biting his lip before he finds Junmyeon waiting for him on the sidewalk. Sehun turns back to Jongin, saying that he was fine, gesturing towards the older man. Jongin follows his eyes to find Junmyeon. The boy waves over to the teacher with a big grin, and Junmyeon does it back. Sehun runs over to him as Jongin gets into his car. 

Sehun comes to him with a cheeky grin, like he was happier to see him than anything else. Junmyeon pushed the hopeful thought outside his head.

“You should put your coat on,” Junmyeon advises him.

“Nah,” Sehun responds. “It’s not that cold.”

“It’s snowing.”

“So?” 

Junmyeon lets himself smile at his defeat. Sehun only smirks in his victory as they begin to walk back home. The younger boy tells him all about the dance and how he and Jongin never left the dance floor, being asked by so many girls that they were getting dirty looks, but they didn’t care. The music was good, and it was his favorite thing to do. Junmyeon is happy for Sehun and the fact he gets to dance again, especially since he used to do at his old school when he was on the dance team. This town was too small and judgmental to have anything like that.

They walk and Junmyeon listens quietly and happily as he looks at the sight of Sehun with snowflakes in his silver hair. It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing in the whole damn town that was nothing but ugly. Junmyeon is grateful for the sight, feeling it save his soul and sanity in more ways than one. 

They arrive home soon enough, crackling over Sehun’s story about the guy who fell into the punch bowl and didn’t notice it till the girl dancing with him tripped in the puddle he left out. 

“Dear Lord.” Junmyeon breathed out after the laughter. 

“You should come to the dance next time. It will be so much fun.” Sehun tries to coax him.

“Oh no.” Junmyeon shakes his head. “I’m too older to dance with my students. I doubt any of them would find that cool.” 

“I would. I promise to dance with you Junmyeon.” Sehun smiles at him and Junmyeon can’t bring himself to like the sound of appeal in his voice. 

They share a small look at a noise is made behind them. It was his wife, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed and a sour look on her face. She was in her long white nightgown and robe. She told Sehun that it was time for bed, hinting that he should leave to two adults alone. Sehun frowns but does what he is told. 

Once it was just Junmyeon and his wife, she asks him who was Sehun hanging around with at the dance. 

“His friends.” The older man replied. “Like Jongin Kim.” 

She frowns more at the statement and then informs him to not encourage the dances to the boy anymore. When Junmyeon asks why she simply leaves to go back to the bedroom. Junmyeon is left confused and slightly irked at the statement and way of treatment for both him and Sehun. His wife was just too much sometimes. 

Later on, Junmyeon starts giving Sehun driving lessons. It’s easy since Sehun turns out to be a natural and finds a lot of enjoyment from the activity. Junmyeon like the view of Sehun behind the wheel with the bright look in his sharp eyes, as if he was filled with determinate and ambition and had his own plans for the future. Like he had big dreams that were bigger than this town and he was gunning for them. 

Junmyeon remembers when he was like that. He promised himself he would leave this town and never come back once he graduated from school. He didn’t like thinking about it now.

They drive around town, letting Sehun get the feel of it. Junmyeon directs him around and soon they’re heading towards the city limit, an open road full of unbounded freedom. He recalls the time when he tried to convince his wife to move away, and how she greatly dismissed the idea like it was nonsense. She acted as if it was ridiculous for him to have any desire to want to move to some loud and crowded town full of all sorts of crazy and nasty people. It was when he got the job offer at his own university who would pay him to not only work there but to also get his doctorate with them. He hated her for making him stay here (but he hated himself more for letting her.)

They pass the line and Sehun doesn’t question him again about it. He liked that about Sehun; he was fearless and excited for anything in life. Junmyeon decides then that he would help the younger boy in any way he could. Sehun was going to go and have the life he never had. The life that Sehun deserved, despite what everyone said. 

Junmyeon directs Sehun to a far-off dinner that he knows about. It out in the rural area of the county with neon lights and a bar. The sun is setting by the time they get there, but they sit in a booth anyway, feeling as if the air is lighter and the openness around them was something worth much more than the drive there. 

Junmyeon likes the sight of Sehun before him, in a white shirt under a dark blue button with rolled up sleeves and faded jeans. His blonde hair is reflecting from the neon lights over them as he rests his elbows on the table. He looks young and free.

“I like this place,” Sehun states after they give their order to a waitress.

“I used to come here a lot when I was your age.” Junmyeon tells him, sipping his coffee.

“You still look like my age.” Sehun smiles at him. 

“Nah. When I was your age, I had a phase of stripped turtlenecks, earrings, and never brushing my hair.” Junmyeon watches as the boy laughs at the mental image inside his head. “I thought it made me look sexier.” 

Sehun tries holding in his laughter through his bitten down lip, a certain light in his eyes that Junmyeon can’t make out. 

They eat and drive back when its pitch-black outside. Junmyeon takes the wheel as Sehun sits beside him and talks to him. He asks more about Junmyeon’s life as a teenager and the answer without going too deeply about how it all ends when they come upon that subject. 

“Why did you come back?”

“For my mother.”

They don’t go beyond that, and Junmyeon wonders if he already knows about his lifelong tragedy and if he can still see him trapped in it. 

They arrive home, and they find his wife inside the living room with her friends, half of them being Junmyeon’s coworkers and Sehun’s teachers. He feels Sehun tense up beside him. He feels bad for the boy.

They are greeted politely and one of them ask where they been the whole day, given that it was past ten at night. 

Junmyeon happily explains that he had taken Sehun out for some driving lessons, and how he’s a natural at it. The women around him say that nice and tell him that a young boy like that needs to start learning at about that age. Junmyeon goes on and says that Sehun becoming such a proper young man and will soon be out there, going to college and then getting a great job in some big city.

That’s when his wife speaks up for the first time since they arrive, and Junmyeon doesn’t ignore the fact that Sehun hides away in the kitchen when she does. 

His wife negative remark basically states that Sehun is still young, and given his distasteful nature, maybe it’s best for him to stay here since none of them know what kind of trouble he will get himself into once he gets out of the city.

Junmyeon hears her statement under her breath, aiming quietly towards the other women around him. “But we can guess what…”

He controls the anger roaring inside him and goes on to say that there’s more in the big world out there that this small town could ever offer to the younger boy, and how he hopes Sehun gets something out of it and knows it will be great. 

He turns to the kitchen and sees Sehun smiling at him gratefully. He ignores the harsh feeling of his wife sour disapproval that is being pushed to the side of his head. He didn’t care at that point. 

Weeks pass and Junmyeon tries talking to his wife into buying Sehun a car. He tries to reason with her, saying he will need it later on in his life and could use it now since he already got his driver’s license. He even goes as far as to state that they could use it as a traveling car, for when they happen to go on vacations and such. (Not that they ever did now, at least….)

His wife tells him that the boy doesn’t need a car and it is a waste of time and money. She doesn’t trust Sehun with that kind liberty anyway, still secretly implying that Sehun was nothing more than a wild child. Junmyeon holds in his annoyance, especially when she tells him that they don’t need a vacation, that they are perfectly fine here. 

Junmyeon would try to argue with her more there, but she would simply stop him when she chimes towards him in a very blunt manner: “Remember who has the bigger slice of the pie here, darling.” 

It was no shocker that a nurse has a bigger income than a teacher, but to throw it back in his face about it, and to do it with the wrong quotation, was just low. He holds his tongue, knowing he has lost here. He grew resentful towards her then.

It wasn’t until months later, in the middle of April, when Junmyeon makes his comeback to her and drives up to the garage with a new car. He honks the horn repeatedly and loudly till he sees movement in the upstairs curtains. He doesn’t see the face pop out, but he hears the running of footsteps down the staircase and the sound of the front door opening. 

Junmyeon gets out of the car to see the younger boy smiling like he about to cry from happiness. He came towards the car but did not touch it, as if the sleek black paint job was still wet.

“This is a car.”

“Yup.” 

“Is this your car?”

“Nope. It’s yours.” Junmyeon tosses the blonde boy his keys and loves the way his eyes lit up at the gift he held in his hands. 

He ignored his wife snarl of his name as the boy rushed over to him on the other side of the car and tightly hugged him like he just gave him life. Funny how it was reversed in this instant. 

Junmyeon soon realizes afterward that maybe this wasn’t okay. Maybe he shouldn’t feel this good, in this way, whenever he was with his nephew. It was defiantly more than a feeling for a friend, and a vastly different feeling for a son. It was deeper than that, making him warm all over, but also leaving a gross feeling in his stomach. He began to hate himself at the thought of what it all really meant for him. He began to also hate himself more when he continued on with his relationship with Sehun without thinking about it like he actually didn’t care. That was reckless and brave of him. 

Junmyeon comes to this one afternoon when school was let out and he was staying behind to grade papers. Sehun was with him, sitting at one of the student desks, doing his math homework. They worked in quietness and Junmyeon felt peaceful without being completely alone. He didn’t even know if that was possible.

He kept looking up to Sehun, who was writing down his problems with his head down low and near the paper, to see if he was actually here. Junmyeon was happy he was.

Junmyeon finished one paper, before taking another one from the pile and then turns to the younger boy. He stares at his long fingers twisted around the pencil before asking him if he has started thinking about certain colleges he wants to apply for. 

It’s a light question, but Junmyeon feels himself begin to worry when he sees Sehun bit down his lip. Sehun says doesn’t know and that he needs to ask his parents first. 

Junmyeon was at a lost from that statement. He doesn’t understand why Sehun would have to ask his parents that. Most parents expect their children to be thinking about college from the age of nine, so why did it come off as a request for permission when Sehun said he had to ask. He thinks back to the slick remark his wife made earlier in the spring, and his skin crawls again.

Sehun cuts him from his thought when he asks him where he went. Junmyeon told him, and he can tell from the look in the younger boy’s eyes that he didn’t expect that answer. 

“I knew you were smart, but I didn’t expect that.”

“I got my Masters there as well.”

“I can’t get in there.”

“Yes, you can,” Junmyeon assures him. He means it for real. “You’re smart enough. Your grades are good enough.”

Sehun doesn’t respond and Junmyeon thinks he now understands what the statement made earlier means. He recalls all the times Sehun has called his parents, who live only an hour away, and have been met with the answering machine afterward. He doesn’t tell the boy about how his wife calls her sister from the phone every afternoon and spends at an hour talking, sometimes in hush tones, like she doesn’t want someone to hear.

They are in comforting silence again and Junmyeon half reads the paper before him and half thinks about how to get Sehun into his old alumni. He had the grades, and if he used Junmyeon as a recommendation, maybe they can consider him for not only acceptance but maybe for a scholarship too…

“Myeonie,” Sehun finally speaks up. He looks at the boy with his blond hair shimmering in the sunlight from the open window to his left and the tighten grip on his pencil. He still has those extremely sharp eyes, but Junmyeon still sees the tried look in them, like his seen too much in life and experience too much for the sake of his youth. Junmyeon saw it in himself, but only after someone pointed it out to him one day, years after his mother’s death. “Do you think I’m some sort of… _wild child_? Or whatever they call me…”

Junmyeon saw the hope stretching out through his eyes, almost begging him to say the truth. Honestly, Junmyeon was still unsure of why Sehun was sent to them. Sure, he had a prediction that was mainly generated through small insights he gathered from being around the boy, but he didn’t see it as a threatening thing. He was quietly hoping for it to be the case, for many different reasons.

But overall, Sehun was a decent kid. He wasn’t loose on the streets, doing drugs or sleeping around with all the girls in the neighborhood. If he was sneaking out to go late night partying and drinking, he was doing a damn good job of hiding it from his wife who kept him on a leash shorter than her pinky.

“No,” Junmyeon answered him truthfully. “I think you’re a proper, well-behaved young man.”

Sehun only looked back at him with big hopeful eyes, as if he was slowly leading himself to believe his words. He was doubting himself and falling under the belief of the image they all put on him. Junmyeon kept his eye contact up to maybe steer him away from that. It wasn’t true, none of it.

Sehun looks back down to his work as the doorknob clicks and on the door to the classroom opens to revile another teacher, asking Junmyeon a question as she entered the room.

The next month arrives and the whole town is in a frenzy over the high school graduation. Junmyeon can tell most of his students are ready for it all to end and for the summer to begin. He can see half of them ready for the future ahead, after the parties, of course.

So, it was no surprise to Junmyeon when Sehun asks him if he could go out with some friends after the graduation ceremony. He knew the younger boy was lying when he said there would be no alcohol involved (because he knew better from working with high school kids). He allowed him to go anyway and didn’t tell his wife till later. 

He got a call late that night, around two in the morning. It was Sehun, asking him if he could pick him up through grumpily noises that sounded nauseous to hear. 

Junmyeon gets in his car and drives off to the house that he knew the party was at and makes it there to find the blonde boy on the corner of the street, standing alone and swaying side to side, as if they could barely stand. Junmyeon stopped the car for him and gets out to help him in. He notices the vomit beside Sehun on the concrete and thanks god that he didn’t do it in the car. 

Sehun is nearly passed out when he settles inside the passenger seat, noiseless as Junmyeon drives him back home. He hopes he can carry the boy up to his room and into bed without his wife noticing. Neither of them will hear the end of it if she knows and Junmyeon rolls his eyes at the thought in his head. 

They arrive home without the lights on. Junmyeon turns off the car and moves to open the door, but Sehun’s cold hand lashes onto his right arm before he can take his hand off the wheel. Junmyeon turns to the younger male beside him, who has small tears running down his eyes.

“I’m a piece of shit, Junmyeon.” He huffs out through his numb boy, looking lost and vulnerable. 

“No, you’re not Sehun.” He tries to hush the boy. “Don’t say that.” 

“I hate myself.”

“Stop it.” 

“You should hate me too.”

“Never.” 

They stop talking and look at each other for a long moment. Tears still fell down Sehun’s cheeks but stop forming in his eyes, and Junmyeon thinks that maybe the boy is damage after all, but not in the way everyone thought. 

“I kiss you if I hadn’t vomit earlier,” Sehun states, and normally he would laugh, but he didn’t this time, the growing feeling in his stomach taking over. 

Junmyeon doesn’t answer him, just letting the hand on his arm slide down to join his hand, where it was greeted welcomingly with warmth and softness.

“Would you let me?” Sehun dares to ask him. His voice is different than before.

“Yes. I would let you.” Junmyeon answers to him and himself honestly, confirming what the mystery of Sehun being here and how Junmyeon actually felt for the boy. He squeezed the hand in his tighter and felt it squeeze back. It was like have consummated their nonexistent marriage.

Junmyeon helped support the other boy with one arm as they walked up and into the house together. Sehun stumbles through the front door as Junmyeon turns on the lights. They both come up to the sight of his wife, standing with hands on her hips and an angry expression on her face. Junmyeon had never seen her that red.

Junmyeon reaches his hand out, trying to speak and somehow stop her from her movement towards them, but she somewhat still manages to grab Sehun from his spare arm, pulling him away from Junmyeon’s side. She gives the barely standing boy a slap across the face and sends him down to the carpet floor. 

The slap was loud and echoing through the hollow home. He stands there for a moment, completely shocked by what happened and watches powerlessly when he sees Sehun ran out of the home in a messy fashion. He turns back to his wife with a new feeling of rage inside him. It was as if a stick inside his stomach snapped and now he was angry and not thinking.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“I want him out! Who knows what he’s been doing! How many men he’s been screwing!”

The fight rages on throughout the night, and it’s like a war zone. Both of them are screaming and blaming each other for everything wrong in their lives and their marriage. At one point, Junmyeon admits to only marrying her for the sole fact to satisfy his mother, and the woman said the old hag was a demanding bitch like that anyway. That kicked started the throwing of items across the room, like the wedding picture and the fine china from her parents. 

It was when his wife shattered the vase that held the wedding bouquet when the fight finally ended in tears, mainly from his wife who broke down then and there on the living room floor. She sobs and Junmyeon stands there for the most part and looks at her, wondering how the hell they got to here with everything happening around them. 

Junmyeon eventually walks over to her and holds her as she cries, before carrying her off to the bed where she finally sleeps from exhaustion. Neither of them apologizes or take back anything they said. They don’t talk about it in the morning, or ever again. 

He stays up the whole night, cleaning the mess through the house from the fight and waiting for a call from Sehun. He had to resist himself from going out and look for the boy. He knew he needed space after what took place here. Junmyeon’s whole world turn sideways and upside down in a matter of an hour.

It’s the late afternoon the next day when Junmyeon gets a call from Sehun, saying his at Jongin’s house and safe. Junmyeon breaths for the first time all night and tells Sehun that he is allowed home, noticing how low his voice got over the phone when he asked him.

Junmyeon picks him up an hour later. He walks out of the house and into the car without speaking till he belts up. His head is low in shame and Junmyeon feels as if he had done this to him.

“I’m sorry for coming home drunk.” He says to the side of him, his voice unstable.

“I’m sorry for everything afterward.” Junmyeon says it more to himself than the boy next to him.

“When do I leave?” Sehun asks him as if he already knows he going to be kicked out.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Junmyeon grips the wheel. “Never.”

Junmyeon is very well aware of his abnormal feelings for Sehun and how it could all end badly if he doesn’t find a distance between the two of them, but he also knows that he is all that Sehun has left for a chance of a good life away from these people and this town. Sehun had the opportunity to get out and be who he is freely. Junmyeon’s time had long since passed, but Sehun still had his. 

Summer comes and Junmyeon is asked to teach summer school. He spends most of his days there while his wife stays at home and goes into the night shift at work. Junmyeon didn’t want Sehun to stay in the house with her during the day, knowing that was like putting a fire too close to a pile of dynamite, so he pulled some strings and got Sehun a job down at the local farmer market. He needed to put something on his resume anyway, and it will make a good reference on his college applications that they will be sending out in the fall. 

Most nights, Junmyeon and Sehun are left to eat dinner together on their own, which displeases his wife greatly. She never says it, but he knows she does. The two have stopped talking entirely, which settles fine for Junmyeon. He feels no remorse over the loss. 

One night, Junmyeon goes by and picks up Sehun from work and they carry out pizza for the night as a little treat. They sit together on the living room floor, watching movies and talking. Sehun asks Junmyeon for more of his crazy college stories, and he tells him about the night where he got hit in the face by a pink dildo while doing drunk karaoke. Sehun is on the floor dying from laughter, and Junmyeon takes it as the time to go off and get his old picture from college. 

They were stored in a little blue box and there are a lot of him and his old friends who have all moved off into different parts of the world. He points out his beloved blue convertible when they come across a photo of him behind the rubber white sterling wheel, smiling wide with black sunglasses and a black ball cap. There was also a photo of that time he got to go to New York City for a school trip and all of his friends went off to see a show on Broadway. It was a picture of him in the back seat of a taxi looking at his watch, looking stress. Sehun laughed at that one the most, saying he still looked younger then and now.

There was a favorite out of the pile that Junmyeon noticed. Sehun picked out a single, wallet size picture of him in a plain setting that he reminders as his freshmen college dorm. The wall that he was leaning against was a pea soup green and he was under his turtle designed comforter in a simple black sweater and his black hair stringy and messy. 

Junmyeon can’t recall if he took the picture or if someone else did, but it was obviously nothing special in the making. Sehun loved it none the less, saying he liked his smooth looking skin and pink lips. 

Junmyeon didn’t verbally respond but he let the blonde keep the picture, who smiled so widely at him in thanks. He loved that smile, he decided. He was officially letting himself fall then.

It was a few nights afterward when Junmyeon is lying in his own bed, alone, when he hears the faintest sound of gasps and moans from above him, knowing fully well it was coming from Sehun's room. He tried his best to ignore the noise with respect to Sehun's privacy, but he could have sworn he heard the beginning sound of his name before being cut off abruptly.

Junmyeon’s mind began to roam in his own imagination of what it all would look like, feeling the heat spread throughout his boy like a shameful fire. He liked to think that maybe Sehun was holding his picture as he jerked off, trying to hold back his moaning as he finally cum in a loud, breathless gasp (Junmyeon’s mind soon led to other things…).

Summer passes quickly and school starts back soon enough, and Junmyeon can be prouder of his senior who was in the top three areas. If he worked hard enough, he could be valedictorian, and Junmyeon would defiantly cry at the speech his Sehun would deliver. 

He was easily accepted into Junmyeon’s old alumni (which he did cry about), and it was in the late fall when he got another letter offering the full ride scholarship they were praying for. The boy was able to get the letter in the mail and hide it from Junmyeon long enough to get to school where he opened it around his friends in the janitor’s closet.

Junmyeon was in the middle of class, lecturing over the analyzation of _Ethan Frome_ when the plastering sound of running feet on title broke out loudly throughout the hallways and into the classroom. The calling of his name soon followed.

“Junmyeon!” The voice belongs to an overjoyed Sehun. “Myeonie!”

Before the teacher could react, the classroom door opened widely with three teenage boys zooming inside. One of them had blonde hair and the biggest smile. 

“Junmyeon!” Sehun cried out.

“Yes?” He was oddly calm.

“He got the scholarship!” Jongin told him when Sehun choked on his own glee. The other boy, Yixing, pointed to the letter in his hand.

“Wha- “

“I got the full ride!” Sehun finally shouted out of happiness. 

Junmyeon tossed his book to the side and the three boys began to dash over to him, yelling out in celebration as Sehun and him collided into a hug, the younger boy literally jumping into his arms. The two other boys join them as they jumped in glee and the junior students around them applauded for Sehun’s accomplishment. Junmyeon held his tears till they got into the car after school, hugging him again, saying how proud he was and how he was going to be something great. 

The annual winter dance comes along and Junmyeon is asked to chaperone this year. He was in charge of the monitory foot of space between each slow-dancing couple that seemed to be not aware how wide a foot of space is (or they just didn’t care). He didn’t do his job well, not separating any couple unless someone ordered him too, pretending to not notice them till then (he didn’t care either). 

Junmyeon spent the night watching Sehun who danced very little with any girl. He mainly sat on the bleachers, watching the other dance so soundly to the slow music. His friends Jongin and Yixing danced with every girl twice, most of them finding Jongin the new bad boy with is dyed pink hair and Yixing with his bold and charming dance moves when the more upbeat songs came on. The boy even went as far as to dry humping the ground in a daring move to impress the people gathering around him. Junmyeon laughed out loud at the ten of the dozen chaperons that darted to the boy before picking him up and escorting him out of the decorated gym. Junmyeon was still laughing about it ten minutes later. 

The call for the last dance was announced and Junmyeon watched as Sehun stayed seated through the whole time, turning down three girls who were asking for a dance from him. He wasn’t rude about it, but Junmyeon was worried and feeling guilty. He gives anything to be eighteen again, just so he could dance with Sehun now at this moment, without judgment or concerns from others. 

When all the students left, and the gym was closing down, Junmyeon and Sehun walked to his car in the cold night. Most of the chaperons have already left and Junmyeon took this as his moment to be open. 

“Why didn’t you dance with all those girls earlier?” He asks him softly.

“I just didn’t want to.” 

Junmyeon feels worse from that answer and studies the boy, who looked more tired and cold than normal. That look in his eyes worried the teacher even more.

“You know,” Junmyeon starts out carefully. “you can dance with whoever you want, right? I don’t care who.”

Sehun only looks back to him, his eyes almost pleading for something he can’t understand. He watches as the other boy moves from that side of the car to the other side. He takes Junmyeon by the arm and pulls him out to the empty parking lot, leaving both the car doors open. 

“What are we doing?” Junmyeon questions him as Sehun wraps an arm around his waist, bringing him close. 

“I can dance with whoever I want, right?” 

He feels himself smile as he goes along swaying with the blonde who was really handsome up close, even though the white clouds of their breaths in the cold air. They stay like that for a long time, just dancing along to the silent music. Junmyeon finds this to be the happiest he has ever been. He completely falls then. 

It was months later when Junmyeon got his own letter with a job offer inside. The offer is the same as before. 

He comes home late that night, letting Sehun drive himself home after school. Junmyeon has spent the last few hours rereading the letter and thinking over it. 

He already knew the answer he would receive from his wife; it would be the same as before. But this time, Junmyeon wouldn't be taking no for an answer. She can refuse the offer he would give her but he was not turning down his own, and it gave him more motivation knowing that Sehun would be there with him. 

This was Junmyeon’s second chance, and this time, it was with who he really wanted. 

He drives home in his own car and finds another vehicle in the driveway. He doesn’t recognize the car and knows the worse is here. 

He walks into his home to find it abnormally quiet and unmoving. He doesn't call for anyone but instead walks to the kitchen where he finds his wife and Sehun's parents, sitting at the table.

Junmyeon asks what's going on to have his worst fear confirmed. Sehun's parents were here to collect their son and take him home. They say that his wife has informed that Sehun's condition has not improved and they have decided that it is best to take him somewhere helpful for him. 

Junmyeon feels irked at the ignorance that he was facing. He was pissed that this is how they wanted it all to end. 

Junmyeon asked them about school and how he graduates in a matter of three weeks. He asks them if they even knew that he was class valedictorian and was preparing to get ready to go to college in the summer. Or did they have not permitted the boy to do that as well?

The couple before him only glared before standing and going off in the directions of the stairs. They were going to be the ones to break the news to the boy, and Junmyeon was ready to blow. 

He turns to his wife that is oddly quiet and he confronts her. 

“You called them here, didn’t you?” 

“It was only a matter of time, Junmyeon.” 

“They don’t even care about him. Isn’t that why he’s here, with us, in the first place?” 

“They’re his parents, Junmyeon.”

“Oh, so they’re together this week? Is he not off and gone like he was for more than half of Sehun's life?" His voice begins to rise intensity and volume. "I was more of a father to that boy than anyone." 

“You’re more than a parent to him, Junmyeon.” She snarled back at him. “I’m not blind. I know what’s going on around here.” 

Junmyeon only glares back to her, knowing full well that the truth was now out and exposed. Everyone knew and he couldn't bring himself to care about them knowing. He never really did, which is why his mother guilt-tripped him into marrying a woman in the first place. She was embarrassed and ashamed of it and her son, who didn't seem to give a fuck about it. This was what was happening to Sehun as well. 

“I’m doing this for your own good Junmyeon. It’s for the best. It’s for our marriage and everyone involved.” 

"Go to hell." Junmyeon snaps at her, making her shut up once and for all with a broken look in her eyes. He storms out of the house, officially done with her and her sister.

He went out for a walk, not caring for the humid air outside. He had to get away. He needed to think.

He walked for a long time, thinking through all the details, thinking about all the problems and how to respond. He had a plan, and it seemed too good to be true. Everything good worked out too smoothly for everything to not end in chaos.

No one knew about his job yet, which gave him some kind of security in the future in another town away from here, the same town that Sehun would go to for the same school. He didn't have to walk at graduation. He could still receive his diploma if he requests it now. And the boy himself was 18 now. He was an adult. He could legally do as he pleases. Everything worked out, and most of his walk consists of him convening himself that they could pull this off. He could do it all, and he could have it all, including Sehun. But only if he acted now…

He came back to his home hours later, early in the morning. He saw that the out of place car was finally gone from the driveway, and advances onto his home. He sneaks in quietly as possible, breathing a sigh of relief when he doesn't see anyone waiting for him in the living room. He then goes up the steps to Sehun's room instead of going towards his own bedroom on the first floor. He stood outside the door, listening to the faintest sound of sobs.

He knocks softly, hoping it was enough to hear. “Sehun, it's me. Can I come in?”

There was no more noise, but there was also no reply. Junmyeon opens the door anyway. 

He walks in to find a bare room with almost anything in it. There’s a set of luggage that Junmyeon bought him for his birthday, packed and ready to go. He looks over to the bed to find a small lump underneath a blue comforter. He watches as it scrawls smaller once it senses Junmyeon there.

“Sehun…” Junmyeon reaches the bed and lays down to enfold the blue ball into his arms. He hears the sobs louder now, and more heartbroken. He lifts the covers off the boy and holds his back to his chest. They stay like that for so long before Sehun forms words through his meltdown.

“I can’t win Junmyeon. I can’t fucking win here.”

Junmyeon hushes him as he cries more and more, letting his fingers play with his hair as a copping gesture. 

“I have a plan for us…”

He explains everything to him, big puffy eyes full of hope staring at him like a life saver. Junmyeon explains everything in detail and emphases that they need to leave, tonight. 

It wasn’t even a second later when he got his response. “What all do I need to pack? Who’s car are we taking?”

Junmyeon tells him before going down his own room and grabbing a bag for himself. He took a couple of shirts and jeans, along with his computer and chargers. He took the hidden stack of money he hid in the closet from his wife, along with all his band information and credit cards. He took his college memorabilia and degrees. He left his wedding ring on the dresser and left the woman in his bed alone. She acted asleep through his packing and he let her. This was the end, and Junmyeon was happy they finally got there. 

They take Sehun’s car and pack everything in the truck. Sehun offers him the keys but he denies it, wanting the wild child to feel the freedom of passing the city limit for himself.


End file.
